Swinging door closer and check



May 15, 1934. G. H. ANDERSON SWINGING DOOR CLOSER AND CHECK Filed April22, 1932 .a 10 Qu 3 33 .1w 3

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Patented May 15, 1934 UNITED s'rATEs PATENT OFFICE icut signor to TheHart & Hutchinson Company, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of ConnectApplication April 22, 1932, Serial No. 606,805

8 Claims. (Cl. 16-55) This invention relates to door closers and checks,and more particularly to a device of this nature adapted to operate on adoor having a swing of slightly less than 180 degrees.

One object of this invention is to provide a device of the above naturewhich is adapted to be attached to the lower edge of the door forsupporting the weight thereof in a hinge bracket.

Y A further object is to provide a device of the above nature having aspring-pressed piston located within a cylinder and pivotally connectedto ank adjustable crank shaft.

' A further object is to provide a device of the above nature comprisingan elongated chamber divided into two axially alined cylindercompartments connected by a pair of valve controlled passages, one ofwhich contains a spring-pressed piston and the other having a oatingpiston tted therein.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which may beadjusted so as to operate on doors opening in either direction or ondoors adaptedfto swing in both directions.

A A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which willbe simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, easy to installand manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eiiicientand durable in use. I

With these and other objects in view there have been illustrated on theaccompanying drawing two forms in which the invention may beconveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing.: j Y Y Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of an `elevatedswinging door and door posts, showing the door closer and check locatedin operative position vsecured to the lower edge of the swinging door.v

Fig. 2 is an Venlarged vertical longitudinal sectional view through thedoor closer and check and the lower part of the door.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the inner end of the doo-rcloser and check, taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows, and showing the door in its closed ordead-center position.

Fig. 4 is a similar View, showing the door in its open position.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view through the door closer and check,taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of thearrows.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a modied form of adjustable mounting forthe door closer and check, showing the parts in disassembled arrange- Ament.

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same.

`as by a wood screw'28.

Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numeralsdenote'corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10indicates a swinging door of the elevated type such as used in toiletcompartments and shower stalls. The door 10 is mounted to swing betweentwo upright posts 11 and 12, and is pivotally supported on the left-handpost 11, as viewed in Fig. 1, by means of a door closer and check unit13 attached to the lower edge of the door 10. The top part of the dooris preferably hinged to the post 11 as by means of a vertical pivot pinand bracket member, not shown.

The door closer and check unit 13 has an elongated hollow chamber 14divided into two liquid retaining compartments 15 and 16 by means of anintegrall partition wall 17, the front compartment 16 beingsubstantially shorter than the rear compartment 15. y

The rear or innerend of the chamber 14 is provided with a verticalhollow crank housing 18 connected to said chamber as by angular lugs 19and 20 and flat head screws 21 and 22. VThe crank housing 18 is providedwith a pairof upright spaced lugs 23 and 24 which are adapted to embracethe opposite side of the door 10 to which said lugs are secured as by athrough 'bolt' 25.

The upper part of the `chamber 14 is provided with alongitudinal groove26 for embracing the lower edge of the swinging door'lO, and the outeror front end of said chamber 14 is provided with a protruding lug 27 forattachment to said door The lower end of the crank housing 18 is adaptedto be closed'by a substantially thick closure 4 disc 29 'tightly ttedtherein.` The upper end30 of the crankhousing 18 and the yclosure disc29 are provided with alined bores forming journals for the bearingsections 31 and 32 `of a crank member 33 which is threaded'at its lowerend 34. The crank member 33 is adapted to be inserted through a verticalhole 33a in the horizontal arm of an angle bracket 35', the vertical armof which is securely attached to the door post 11. The crank member3'3`is adapted'to' be held in any adjusted position by means of alocking nut 36 tted upon said threaded extremity 3 4.

Mounted within the rear compartment 15 of the chamber 14 and adapted'toreciprocate longitudinally therein is a hollow piston 3'7 having anintegral reduced section 38 extending forwardly therefrom. An interiorrod 39 is located within the hollow piston 37, being ailixed to thepiston 37 by means of an integral reduced threaded shank 40 tightlyscrewed therein. 'Ihe free rear end of the rod 39 is bifurcated to forma slot 41 within which is pivotally secured one end of a pitman link 42as by means of a wrist pin 43. The other end of the pitman link 42 isjournaled upon a crank pin 44 integral with an offset section of thecrankmember 33.

In order, to form a liquid-tight seal, the piston 37 is provided with apair of inverted juxtaposed hat leathers 45 and 46 securely attached tothe reduced end 38 of said piston head, as by means of a retainingwasher 47 and cap screw 48, said cap screw 48 having threaded engagementwithin the threaded shank 40 ofthe shaft 39,..y

To automatically return thedoor to closed position after it has beenopened, .provision is made of a helical spring 49 seated within thepiston 37 land surrounding the center rod 39 and attached pitman link42. The inner end of the spring 49 is adapted to abut against thecylindrical wall of the vertical crank housing 18.

Y In orderV to maintain the cylinder chamber 14 completely iilled withliquid at all timesY without the use of exterior casings, provision ismade of. a floating piston 50 slidably mounted Within the smaller outerchamber 16. This floating piston 50 consists `.of a metal block51-slidable within the chamber 16 and having a pair of outwardly cuppedAhat leathers 52 and 53 secured to the opposite faces of said block 5l,asby means of a pair of retaining washers 54 and 55 and cap screws 56and 57 having dianfietricallyA threaded engagement within said block5,1.

In order to properly control the flow of liquid between the chambers 15and 16 during the opening and-,closing movements of the door 10,

provision is made of a tapped hole 58 extending through the lower partof thefpartition wall 17. A threaded bushing-59 isadapted to be screwedwithin said tapped hole 58, and is provided with a central liquidpassage 60 offsuicient diameter to allowan unrestricted flow of liquidtherethrough to the left during the opening of the door. A ball checkvalve 61 is adapted to be loosely held in axial alinement with thecentral bore 60 by means of a ball cage formed by a plurality of metalprongs 62 (three in this instance) surrounding said ball valve 61 andpermanently secured to the inner face of said bushing 59.'-l The-,innerends 62a. of said prongs 62 aredirected inwardly to prevent the ballvalve 61 from rolling out of its retainingcage. l

By -means of this construction it will,VV be obvious that as the door 10is swung open the suction inthe compartments 15 and` 16 will cause theball valve 61 to open andpermit anunrestricted flow of liquid throughthe liquid passage 60, and thus allowing said door 10 to Ybe swungl openwith comparative ease. When the door is released', the piston will beretracted within the chamber 15 by the energy stored in the spring 49,and the liquid will be forced to the right, causing the ball valve 61 toseal the liquid passage 60. The'liquid will-then bev caused to flowthrough a restricted by-pass 63 located in the partition wall just abovethe tapped hole 58.

`The size of the by-passr63 may be adjusted as desired by means of atransverse needle valve pin 64 fitted within a tapered valve chamber 65intersecting the by-pass 63. The needle valve pin 64 is preferablysecured to the inner end of an adjustable set screw 64a which hasthreaded engagement with `the outer `tapped opening of the valve chamber65.. Y Y z The forward end of the chamber 14 is adapted toY be tightlysealed by means of an annular plug 66 having an air vent hole 67adjacent the upper edge thereof. As will be obvious, the space in thecompartment 16 to the left of the iloating piston will be lled withliquid, while the space at the right of said piston will be lled withvair at all times.

If. desired, the checking effect of the liquid bypass 63 may be enhancedsomewhat by means of a ball check Valve 68 loosely supported, as by wireretaining prongs 69. The ball valve 63 is adapted to be adjustablyseated upon a vent hole 67 by means of a set screw 70 having an innerpointed extremity adapted to engage against the lower spherical surfaceof said rball Valve 68 and hold said ball valve 68 lin spacedrelationfrom said vent hole 67.

In the modied Vform of the invention shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the lowershaft 32 of the crank member 33'is provided with a square shank 71 whichis adapted to i'lt into a square hole 72 provided in a circularadjusting plate 73.' Surrounding saidV square hole 72, the plate 73 isprovided with a plurality of equally spaced transverse apertures 74.

In order to lock the plate 73 in any adjusted position,'the supportingarm 35a of the angle bracket 35 is providedrwith three upwardlyextending vertical pins 75 equally spaced around a transverse hole 76which is sufficient in diameter to clear any part of the square shank71that may extend downwardly therein. l

The adjusting plate 73 is adapted to rest upon the supporting arm 35awith the three pins 75 engaged in three alined holes 74 in the plate 73,and thus preventing rotation of said plate 73 and securely holding thecrank member 33 ina fixed position. As shown in Fig. 7, the crank member33 may be readily adjusted to any angular.

Operation In operation, when the door 10 is swung from closed to openposition, the spring-pressed piston 37 will move rearwardly relativetothe piston chamber 15. rThis movement of the piston 37 will causethehelical spring 49 to be compressed and also will lcreate a vacuum withinthe front end of the piston chamber 15. The ball check valve 61 willthus be caused to unseat itself and move to the-left withinV itsretaining cage, thus permitting the liquid from the compartment 16to'pass freely through the relatively large aperture 60 of the bushing59 into the piston compartment 15. Simultaneously with the rearwardmovement of the piston 37, the floating piston 5.0,will also be forcedrearwardly withinits respective compartment 16 by the pressure oftheatmosphere. It vwill thus be seen that relatively little resistancewill be olered to the opening of the door, but as soonas the door isreleased, the helical spring 49 will come into action, and will beretarded due tothe fact that as soon as the door starts to swing shutunder the influence of said spring 49, the ball .valve 61 will close theoil passage 60 and force the liquid to escape from the chamber 15through the restricted by-pass 63. The dampening action will be furtherincreased by the ball check valve 68 seated in the air vent hole 67, aspreviously explained.

While there have been disclosed in this specication two forms inwhichthe invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that these formsare shown for the purpose of illustration only, and that the inventionis netto beflimited tothe specific disclosures but may be modified andembodied in Various other forms without departing from its spirit. Inshort, the invention includes all the modifications and embodimentscoming within the scope of the following claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new andfor which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

l. In a door closer and check, a chamber adapted to be attached to aswinging door, a pair oi alined liquid-containing cylinders in saidchamber, a valve controlled apertured partition separating saidcylinders, a spring actuated piston in one cylinder, a floating pistonin the other cylinder, the space in said cylinders between said pistonsbeing completely lled with liquid at all times, means for connectingsaid spring actuated piston to a stationary member, and means forchecking the reverse flow of iluid from one cylinder during the closingmovement of the door.

2. In a door closer and check, a pair of alined cylinders, saidcylinders being connected by a bypass of small area and a check valvecontrolled passage of relatively large area, a spring pressed piston inone of said cylinders connected to a door post, a Yfloating piston inthe other cylinder adapted to maintain the space between said pistonscompletely full or liquid at all times, and a 1e stricted air vent insaid other cylinder to enhance 4 the checking action of said checkvalve.

3. In a door closer and check, a pair of cylinders, said cylinders beingconnected by a by-pass of small area and a check valve controlledpassage of relatively large area, a spring-pressed piston inl one ofsaid cylinders connected to a door post, a noating piston in the othercylinder adapted to maintain the space between said pistons completelyfull of liquid at all times, and a restricted air vent in said othercylinder to enhance the checking action of said check valve.

4. In a door closer and check, a pair of cylinders, said cylinders beingconnected by a by-pass of small area and a check valve controlledpassage of relatively large area, a spring pressed piston in one of saidcylinders, a floating piston in the other cylinder adapted to maintainthe space between said pistons completely full of liquid at all times,and a restricted air Vent in said other cylinder to enhance the checkingaction of said check valve.

5. In a door closer and check, a pair of cylinders, said cylinders beingconnected by a by-pass of small area and a check valve controlledpassage of relatively large area, a spring pressed piston in one of saidcylinders, a floating piston in the other cylinder adapted to maintainthe space between said pistons completely ull of liquid at all times,and an adjustable restricted air Vent in said other cylinder to enhancethe checking action of said check valve.

6. In a door closer and check, a cylinder, a hollow drum connected tosaid cylinder, means for attaching said connected cylinder and drum tothe lower horizontal edge of a swinging door, a partition in saidcylinder, a pair of valve controlled apertures in said partition, aspring actuated piston in the compartment adjacent the pivoting edge ofsaid door, a floating piston in the other compartment, a liquid in saidcompartments between said pistons, a crank member held stationary insaid drum and an oiset crank pin integral with said crank member, apitrnan link connecting said crank pin to said spring actuated piston,means for supporting said crank member in a vertical position, and meansfor adjusting the angular position of said crank member to permit thedoor to be checked in different positions.

7. In a door closer and check, a pair of cylinders, said cylinders beingconnected by an adjustable by-pass of small area and a check valvecontrolled passage of relatively large area, a spring-pressed piston inone of said cylinders connected to a door post, a floating piston in theother cylinder adapted to maintain the space between said pistonscompletely full of liquid at all times, and a restricted air vent insaid other cylinder to enhance the checking action of said check valve.

8. In a door closer and check, a pair of cylinders, said cylinders beingconnected by a by-pass or small area and a check valve controlledpassage of relatively large area, a spring-pressed piston in one of saidcylinders connected to a door post, a floating piston in the othercylinder adapted to maintain the space between said pistons completelyfull of liquid at all times, and a restricted adjustable air vent insaid other cylinder to enhance the checking action of said check valve.

GUS'IAV I-I. ANDERSON.

